Could California’s Next Great Wine Valley Be Silicon Valley?

Despite Napa Valley being largely considered America’s wine capital, nearby San Jose is typically more associated with rows of code than rows of grapevines. Shaun Coleman, founder and proprietor of Alamitos Vineyards , along with his partner, Chris Maune, hopes to change that, repositioning Silicon Valley not only as the land of tech, but as a region of great potential when it comes to making world class wine.

Alamitos History

A Silicon Valley engineer with a winemaking ancestry, perhaps nobody is better poised to take on the challenge than Coleman, who purchased the property that would become Alamitos in 2014, planting the first grapes in 2015, and releasing the first vintage bottling in 2018. (Of interesting historical note: The deed for the property predates the state of California, and is written entirely in Spanish.) As San Jose and Silicon Valley’s only estate winery at present, the hack for developing Alamitos and repositioning the region as a place for great wine was both simple, and decidedly complex: “ it’s got to be amazing ,” says Coleman, “ I can’t afford for it not to be .” Both from my personal tasting experience, and from a number of professional accolades that have landed on Alamitos in its relatively short life span: so far, so good.

Consider the inherent potential for it to actually be amazing. The city of San Jose is within striking distance of both Napa and Santa Cruz, nestled between the wine regions of Santa Cruz Mountains, one of the first established American AVAs and which includes iconic Ridge Vineyards among its inhabitants, and Santa Clara Valley — Alamitos can currently label their estate wines with either or both AVAs depending on the elevation of particular plots. The region also lays claim to having been home to California’s oldest winery: on a site just a couple of miles from where Alamitos is now, Old Almaden Winery was founded in 1852 and included Coleman’s grandfather, Portuguese immigrant John Enos Vargas, among its winemakers.

Coleman’s own personal heritage, combined with a love for the region, were the motivating factors of establishing an estate winery in New Almaden. “ Agriculture has gone from the valley ,” he says, “ supplanted by tech and housing growth. So being able to do this, and actually bring wine back to this region, is kind of our mission now .”

New Almaden Terroir

Giving both historical and viticultural appeal, Alamitos is situated on one of the largest quicksilver mines in the world. During the California Gold Rush, quicksilver was instrumental in being able to extract gold from “ them thar hills .” It’s a fitting metaphor for a winery in its relative infancy that has managed to extract attention-grabbing wines from the area’s unique soils right from the get-go.

Distinct from both the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara AVAs at large, “ this spot almost has a little microclimate ,” says George Troquato, winemaker for Alamitos. “ It's locked in by the mountains, there’s a spillover fog from the coast, and there’s so much mineralogy in the soil ,” he says, which might be expected in a quicksilver mine. “ They also have limestone here, which you don’t otherwise see in the Santa Clara Valley .”

There is hope for the future establishment of a distinctive AVA for the region of San Jose and New Almaden, as Santa Clara Valley AVA matures in its own right, and can help make the case for the development of particular sub-AVAs. “ It's a bit of a process ,” says Coleman. “ The bigger part of the process — and we're trying to encourage this — is getting folks in the area to plant grapes. So it really needs to have that agriculture coming back .”

Alamitos Wines

Alamitos is certainly setting the stage for other potential grape growers in the region through their excellent wines which aptly demonstrate the area’s potential. The brand currently produces about a dozen different bottlings, available on premise, by direct shipping , or in some retail outlets and restaurants in the San Jose area. Estate grown wines include Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and Touriga Nacional, a Portuguese grape in honor of Coleman’s grandfather. Also of note, his grandfather is credited with cracking the code for Sauvignon Blanc in the area, a fact that Coleman wasn’t aware of when he first planted Sauvignon Blanc himself. Alamitos also sources grapes from beyond the estate for wines that are labeled as Napa, Monterey, Santa Cruz Mountains, or Santa Clara Valley.

Its 2021 'Andorinha' Estate Touriga Nacional recently won big at the 2024 International Women’s Wine Competition — a competition which rightfully acknowledges that most wine purchased for consumption at home is bought by women — earning Best in Class, Double Gold, and a 96 score. Recently the same wine was chosen as an Wine Enthusiast Editor’s Choice distinction, and several of Alamitos’ bottles have also scored 90 points or above with Wine Enthusiast: 2022 ‘Laura’s Love’ Rosé, 2021 ‘White Egret’ sauvignon Blanc, 2020 ‘Night Owl’ Cabernet / Syrah Blend, and Umunhum Touriga Porto.

Alamitos’ wine labels are all depictions of birds that can be found on the property, hand-painted by friends and family. (The brand also donates to the Audubon Society.) “ We were strategizing thematically about what we could do to highlight the property on the label, as well as bring in relatives who paint ,” says Coleman. The original paintings now hang in the tasting room casita located on the property.

Visiting Alamitos

Alamitos first scored its tasting room license in 2021, along with all the attendant, post-COVID complications that came with it. A shaded, outdoor terrace overlooking the vineyards and the Almaden Reservoir was a perfect, socially-distant outdoor spot, initially built to be a fire lookout. But there was only one catch: they needed a physical, indoor place to hang the license; a problem that was solved care of a Silver Streak trailer that Coleman and Maune drove down from Oregon. The property now also has a small casita that is used for tastings during colder months, and its own, working fire truck. (An unfortunate necessity, but a cool photo op.)

Should you be looking for a lower-key (and less expensive) wine tasting experience in the greater Bay Area, wine tastings at Alamitos are by reservation on Saturday and Sunday, and include four pours for $25 or $40 depending on selection, which is applied toward bottle purchases or a wine club membership.

Visiting New Almaden

New Almaden is situated about 30 minutes’ drive from Downtown San Jose. For your stay in the region, consider San Jose’s hip shopping and dining district Santana Row. Hotel Valencia Santana Row is a boutique hotel with a seasonal rooftop wine bar, Cielo , overlooking the Santa Cruz Mountains. Vintage Wine Bar is within walking distance, or to riff on the Portuguese wine theme, take a quick drive over to Petiscos in Alum Rock, for small plates and the largest Portuguese wine list in the U.S.

The only road into Alamitos also hosts some not-to-be-missed experiences as well, making for an easy half-day’s worth of activities in the historic New Almaden district: on your way in, snag an adorable mini cheesecake sampler at Charlie’s Cheesecake Works to tide you over until dinner. New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum is located at Casa Grande, the former home of the mine’s manager. After your tasting at Alamitos, enjoy a multi-course menu with (mostly) California wine pairings at elegant La Forêt .